Need to vent. Dont know how to fix.

[hotelslave]

I got laid off the end of November right before Christmas which sucked. So I managed to get through the holidays by borrowing some money and doing what ever babysitting/spare work I could to put gas in car. I happly for jobs 5 days a week online and handing in applications any where I see that is hiring. I am applying for jobs that are hiring for minimum wage that I am overqualified for. I have worked all kinds of customer service and hospitality positions ever since I was 16. I have had people "fix"my resume. I apply to temp agency jobs. But for whatever reason I get very little calls for interviews. Starting to feel like I am just never going to find a job. My family thinks that I'm just not trying hard enough and t hat I just need to keep handing in applications to same stores over and over again until some one hires me. I currently live with my parents but don't get along with my dad at all. Starting to feel kind of depressed about the whole situation. Sorry for long rant just had to vent

[BlaqueKatt]

My family thinks that I'm just not trying hard enough and t hat I just need to keep handing in applications to same stores over and over again until some one hires me.

Fundamental attribution error

[Indigo]

Can't offer much advice but I can empathize. I graduated in December and have been applying for jobs since late November - thus far I've had one interview with a hiring agency. My part time job has cut my hours down to three a week - since I moved back in with my parents I don't have many bills, but the lack of hours makes it difficult to pay the ones I do have. Thankfully thus far my dad understands that the economy sucks. My mom on the other hand doesn't seem to understand why I need to spend so much time on the computer, that I should stop looking for a full-time position, and should work at the grocery store down the street until someone drops a golden job in my lap. Somehow I think her idea has something to do with her dislike of my goal of being out of their house by the end of next year.

I'll send you happy job-hunting thoughts if you'll send me some - sounds like we both need them.

[CaptainJaneway]

Have you tried temp agencies? If there is an office team (clerical and admin jobs) or and accounttemps (accounting) in your area you can try that.

Sometimes they have temp to perm positions.

[hotelslave]

For some reason the temp agencies won't call/talk to me. Í apply for all kinds of positions temp/full time/part time/overnight. I felt better after I wrote my post just had to write it and clear my mind a little. I am so desperate for a job/money that I have even done some baby sitting. To be honest the only kids I can truly tolerate are my niece and nephews. So babysitting for other people makes me want to drink

[auntiem]

Are you in the US? If you are does your state have a Worksource program? Those places are really helpful. You can do practice interviews, take computer classes for free, take job hunting seminars all kinds of things. Ours has a job club which a lot of people swear by, but I've never used.
It may be that if you are applying for jobs you are overqualified for then you aren't getting callbacks because HR figures you'll jump ship when a better job comes along.
Some tips from Worksource / experience:
1) fill out the application exactly as they ask you to down to the color pen they ask for (that is how I used to weed out applications when I had a big stack of them).
2) Get some help with your cover letter. One HR guy I talked to said if he isn't interested by the second sentence of the cover letter he doesn't even bother looking at the resume.
3) They are saying now that you should tailor your resume and cover letter for each job you are applying for. (Pain I know, but that is what they are saying)
4) Think outside the box a little - you probably have skills that are translatable to other types of work - try Chiropractic offices for example.
5) Ask one of the temp agencies if you can have an informational interview with HR - use that contact to ask what they are looking for etc. Then you can use that info to tweek your resume / update skills they are looking for. Some people swear by doing those types of info gathering, I've never done it myself so I can't say.
6) Most important - do not let it get to you! Volunteer doing something you are interested in - you can put that on your resume too.

[hotelslave]

Auntiem- thank you for the great tips. I plan on looking up the Worksource thing first thing when I wake up tomorrow. Also I haven't had any one look at/fix up my cover letter yet so I will look into that.

I have some calls to return tomorrow that will hopefully lead to interviews. After I last posted on here I went and read some SC stories and that made me laugh and cheer up. So I'm going to try and be positive and follow the advice I have received